Freshman Crompton leads Regina past Clear Creek Amana

First-year Regina coach Matt Bolger doesn't plan to have a team that fires up 3-pointers at every opportunity.

If Regina keeps shooting the way it did in the second half Saturday though, it will be tough for Bolger to argue against it.

Freshman Mary Crompton had three of her four 3-pointers in the second half and Regina had four triples after halftime to pull away for a 54-35 win over Clear Creek Amana in Tiffin.

Regina hit six 3-pointers as a team Saturday while improving to 3-0 on the season.

"There is a fine line, I don't want to live and die by the three but if we can create to get an open three that's definitely OK," Bolger said. "I think that was the main thing is we created some shots as opposed to forcing the issue."

Crompton had 11 of her game-high 17 points in the second half as Regina methodically pulled away from Clear Creek Amana (1-3).

The freshman guard scored five consecutive points to end the third quarter after Clear Creek Amana had closed to within eight points.

Crompton hit a pair of free throws and drilled a 3-pointer with 47 seconds left in the third quarter to give Regina a 39-26 lead heading into the fourth.

"It seemed like every time we made a little bit of a run, maybe made a layup or hit an outside shot or got a turnover, they would come right down and hit a big shot," Clear Creek Amana coach PJ Sweeney said. "They always seemed to have an answer."

Neither team could put much together offensively in the first half.

Regina broke open a one-point game with an 11-0 run that spanned nearly four minutes at the end of the first and start of the second quarter.

The 11-0 Regal run started with a 3-pointer by Crompton, featured another triple from sophomore Sarah Lehman and gave Regina a 17-5 lead it would never give up.

"They move the ball very well," Sweeney said. "They have some great shooters and that made a big difference, they've got some girls that can put the ball in the hole."

Clear Creek Amana closed to 17-12 on a basket by Hanna Stokes but Regina ended the half with a 6-1 run to take a 23-13 halftime lead.

Regina took a 34-21 lead on Crompton's first 3-pointer of the second half with three minutes left in the third quarter.

The Clippers answered with a Kiley Seelman 3-pointer and a layup by Stokes to close to 34-26 but Crompton's five consecutive points in the final 90 seconds of the quarter pushed the lead back to 39-26.

"She is as good as a standstill set-up shooter as I have coached," Bolger said of Crompton. "I told someone this summer you are more surprised when she misses it than when she makes it and that is a big luxury to have."

Clear Creek Amana never got closer than 14 points the rest of the way as Regina rattled off an 11-0 fourth-quarter run to push the margin to 50-27.

The loss was the third straight for Clear Creek Amana after a season-opening overtime win over Mount Vernon. Stokes led the Clippers with 14 points while Seelman added six.

"We've got to figure out a way to right the ship a little bit," Sweeney said. "We've kind of hit a little bit of a low here but I have a lot of faith in these girls."

"Hannah is a great person to have on the block and she had some great post moves tonight," Bolger said. "Then we had some slashers in Kennedy, in Sarah and Greyson (Dumont) and having that ability to take what they give you is how we want to play."